070113 UE Workshop on Methodology - (2026S)

Perhaps the most important fact in economic history today is that people today live much longer and healthier lives than they did 200 years ago, let alone 2,000 years ago. We also have far higher incomes and use them to consume a far greater number of different goods and services than our ancestors did, while working fewer hours. In general, our material lives have changed for the better in ways that even our most optimistic ancestors would have found hard to imagine. This rapid increase in living standards over the past 200 years was achieved by sustained economic growth. Economic growth, however, was highly uneven across countries, which resulted in big differences in living standards around the world today. As such, at a global level, whether you are rich or poor largely depends on which country you were born in (e.g., Austria vs Angola), rather than the class you belong to (student vs university professor).

This Workshop on Methodology focuses on some of the quantitative methods used to analyze issues related to economic growth and development in history. We will explore these quantitative methods based on many historical cases. Some of the topics covered include:
- GDP as a measure of living standards in history
- Sources of economic growth in the 20th century
- The rise and fall of socialist economies and data issues
- The history of income inequality
- The role of institutions, culture and geography in shaping economic development across time and space
- ...

No prior understanding of relevant economic theories and quantitative methods is expected nor necessary.

The course consists of four parts: presentations by the lecturer on course topics, class exercises (done in Excel), class presentations by the students on their proposed essay, and the final essay that needs to employ quantitative methods (broadly defined).